SA’s Dricus du Plessis dismantles bloody challenger Strickland in UFC middleweight clash

Dricus du Plessis lands a kick on Sean Strickland of the US. Du Plessis, the defending champion, dominated their middleweight title fight during UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo: Darrian Traynor / Getty Images)

By Keanan Hemmonsbey

9 Feb 2025

Dricus du Plessis proves he’s a class above his rival as he defeats former champion Sean Strickland by unanimous decision in Sydney, Australia.

South African mixed martial arts superstar Dricus du Plessis successfully defended his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight belt for the second time after defeating America’s Sean Strickland by unanimous decision on Sunday morning at UFC 312.

The burly South African, known for his unpredictable, sometimes reckless fighting style, showed a different side to his ability in the ring with a masterclass in composure to dismantle Strickland systematically across five rounds of five-minutes each.

After a fight build-up in which Strickland encouraged Du Plessis to stand and bang, the South African did just that and beat the American at his own game.

Du Plessis walked into Strickland’s wheelhouse, picked it up and destroyed it with the three judges scoring the fight 4-1, 5-0 and 5-0 in favour of Du Plessis.

Everything Du Plessis did in the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney was methodical and clinical, deviating from his game plan only twice in the 25-minute bout.

First, he shot for a takedown at the end of the third round to curb some of the momentum Strickland had built and second, in a half-minute frenzy, Du Plessis rushed for a finish after breaking Strickland’s nose – the champion had seen red and the contender was leaking it.

Best in class

It was the second meeting between the two fighters. Thirteen months ago, Du Plessis took the middleweight belt from Strickland in a close-fought five-round fight at UFC 297.

In that time, Du Plessis has improved tremendously and proved the current gulf in class between the two fighters in their second meeting.

Du Plessis completely controlled proceedings from the first bell to the end of the fifth and final round. Strickland, meanwhile, continued to rely on his straight jab and front kick in an attempt for a result against a man with an arsenal filled with strike weapons.

“To go out there and beat him at his own game was a big priority,” Du Plessis said at the post-fight press conference.

“I felt great out there tonight. To show progression was the biggest thing for me. To show I can submit the best in the world, a guy that’s never been submitted (when he submitted the great Israel Adesanya in his previous fight).

“I can go out there and knock people out or I can go out there and outpoint a guy that outpoints anybody and do it over five rounds.

“That was a big win for me tonight and it was a big performance. To stay calm — when I got his nose, I didn’t stay that calm — but that was just me smelling blood.

“But I got back to where I needed to be. It was an incredible performance.”

Progressive improvement

The two middleweight juggernauts felt each other out initially, with round one essentially being the sixth round in their duel with each other, but the fight became progressively more intense and entertaining the longer it went on.

It began as a violent dance between two familiar partners before it moved into a beating by an athlete who is no longer in the same realm. Both began to come to the same realisation the longer the fight continued.

“He kicked my ass fair and square,” Strickland admitted after the fight.

Du Plessis drew blood from Strickland for the first time halfway through the second round after a few lusty punches landed. Although Strickland was quick to counter, his punches inflicted significantly less damage outside of a small cut on the champion’s nose.

The third round was the first time Strickland threw combinations that did not include or were led by jabs.

Towards the end of the round, Strickland connected flush with Du Plessis’ face with an overhand punch. With time running out, Du Plessis executed his first and only takedown of the fight.

“When he made the pact about only striking, I knew that there’s a chance he’s going to try and wrestle me, but obviously the man doesn’t do mental warfare, he was just straight about it,” Du Plessis said after the fight. “He [just] wants to stand and bang.

“I tried to force him to make it a wrestling fight and then I can engage. I got the takedown, I didn’t plan it, but it was there, it was there.”

Strickland stuck to his jab and combinations while Du Plessis threw several differing combinations of punches, kicks and elbows — including landing some spinning punches.

Beginning of the end

Du Plessis caught Strickland with a clean right hook one minute into the fourth round that broke his nose.

Strickland grabbed at his nose after the vicious punch as blood began to gush out. Du Plessis saw the opportunity for a finish and chased a stumbling and understandably defensive Strickland around the octagon for about 30 seconds before he reverted to his original, more measured strategy.

The lower half of Strickland’s face was almost exclusively coloured a deep red as the blood poured from his nostrils with more than three minutes to survive before a doctor could help him between rounds.

In the short period that Du Plessis did look for the finish, he opened himself up to counter-attacks, but tightened up quickly enough, still targeting the face area. Du Plessis did eventually graze his nose with a hook, but not enough to finish the fight.

The battle between the two men was as good as over with Strickland too vulnerable to inflict any significant damage to the powerful, continuously improving and still middleweight UFC champion, Dricus du Plessis. DM

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Best in class

Progressive improvement

Beginning of the end